Quail for the urban farm

Quail for the urban farm

There are hundreds of different types of quail throughout the world.   Out of all these types, there are two which are commonly kept on the urban farm.  These two popular types are the Japanese Coturnix (Coturnix  Japonica) and the Bobwhite Quail (Colinus virginianus). 

The Japanese Coturnix (Coturnix Japonica) also known as Pharoah, Jumbo, or Coturnix is an old breed of quail from Eastern Asia. They have been domesticated in Japan and the Orient since the beginning of the twelfth century and were initially bred for song.  There are some records dating back to early Egyptian times with hyroglyphics showing the trapping of these birds as they had migrated back onto the mainlands.  Today they are kept as and considered to be what is called a dual purpose bird.  This means they can be raised for both egg production as well as for their meat. 

Male Coturnix quail (Left) and Female (Right)

These birds prefer grasslands and cultivated fields as their preferred environment.  Both sexes of this bird have yellow- brown speckled plumage with the Males having  a reddish colored breast and the Females more molted with dark spots.  They will begin laying at only 6 weeks of age and will reach maturity at 10 weeks.  The females are slightly larger than their male counterparts and will grow between 7- 8  inches long and weigh between 6- to 7 ounces.  The chicks are easily recognized with their yellowish coloring and brown stripes beginning at the forehead stretching all the way back to the tail.  Since the Bobwhite quail only lay eggs from about March to October the Coturnix quail are the best choice of quail for the urban farm and homestead.

Just hatched Coturnix quail chicks

Care is very easy.  Just provide with fresh water and a quality high protein gamebird feed. Coturnix quail do just fine living in a medium sized cage with a wire floor sheltered from extreme heat and cold winds.


Cheers ~ Kevin

Join us on Facebook!

Quail Hatch!

Today is the day!  

Update #1 - Woke up this morning to no hatched chicks. However, it appears that we have our first hatch in progress! A few neighboring eggs have cracks in them, but this one is by far the furthest along. It's happening! :)

No Eggs? Try Golfballs!

On the car ride home from picking up our quails they had laid three eggs on the floor of the dog crate they were in by the time Kevin had pulled in the driveway! We had read that quails weren't picky about where they laid, but were so excited to see them!  Yesterday we were like two little kids checking their box every so often waiting for more.  We waited and waited and checked and checked, but by late afternoon, not a single egg had shown up. A little bummed out, we expressed our concern and disappointment to our neighbor, who just so happens to be my wonderful brother in law, and he suggested we put a golfball in their coop. I thought it was a bit silly but we just so happened to have an old chewed up golfball in the yard, and decided it couldn't hurt. We put the golfball in the coop with the quails, and within 20 minutes we had eggs! I couldn't believe it!

With a little bit of research and some feedback from our awesome Facebook fans, it's seems as though this is a commonly used trick to get your girls to lay eggs. Not only does it help promote egg laying, if you have girls that seem to lay their eggs all over the place and you would like to train them to lay in a specific spot, like you know....the nest boxes that you took the time to build them, throwing in a few golf balls seems to do the trick here as well.  Good things to know I would say! :)

One of our coturnix quails standing guard of the eggs...err golfball and eggs. 

Our golfball.  Isn't it a beauty!? LOL


While you're here, why don't you pick up a few for your girls?!